Chicago Sky select Hailey Van Lith with No. 11 overall pick in WNBA Draft

After an incredible collegiate career, Hailey Van Lith is on to the next level. Her professional basketball dream came true on Monday, as she was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

She made an undeniable impact on the college game. Van Lith rose to prominence while with Louisville, where she spent three seasons. Then, she took her talents to LSU, where she was part of one of the top teams in the sport during the 2023-24 season. Finally, the star guard spent her final season with TCU, where she truly came into her own and showed the world what she could do as a leader on the court.

Van Lith helped guide TCU to the Elite Eight, averaging 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, while becoming the general of a historic team for the program. Her legacy is secure, and now she’ll be hoping to cultivate a new road for herself in the WNBA.

It’s easy to see why fans and media members alike believes Van Lith should be remembered fondly for her time in college basketball as a whole, and especially her season with the Horned Frogs. It’s evident it wasn’t a one-way street either, as Van Lith waxed poetic about the program as well, explaining how she grew as a person and a player over the 2024-25 season following it’s conclusion.

“It is hard for me to put into words, but my relationship with Coach Mark has been just a joy for me,” Van Lith stated. “I’m sure I gave him a lot of headaches throughout the year, but you know, he just accepted me for who I was. He took me at face value. He thanked me for coming to the program. But he took a risk on me. He met me with full belief, and he had a vision of who he thought I could be. At the beginning, he probably was convincing me that I could be that person. I wasn’t necessarily in a place where I even knew who I was anymore. So, he has just breathed life into me. 

“From a life perspective, he’s taught me a lot of great lessons about. How to have healthy relationships, and what it takes to have a healthy relationship, and how much better life can be if you just let people see who you are, and that’s hard for me. So, for me to feel comfortable and safe doing that with him, that took a lot of work on his part that he did not have to do. He could have told me to screw off when I was giving him problems. So I’m forever grateful for him. God put him in my life to transform it, and he certainly has done that.

“I can’t wait to be a TCU alum. I can’t wait to come back and give back to this program and continue having my relationship with Coach. I think he will be around for the rest of my life. So, that’s the best part about this year.”

Her time in college has come to an end, but Hailey Van Lith is just getting started as a star, on and off the court. The future is bright, as she moves on to the WNBA on Monday.